City staff have signed off on a proposal for a box in Old Colorado City that would be made of metal, look like an ore cart and provide enclosed spaces for up to 16
different area publications.

The Old Colorado City Security & Maintenance District board hopes to replace this unmatched set of individualized news boxes at 26th
and Colorado with one "condominium"-style box, sculpted in the style of an ore cart.

Westside Pioneer photo

This “condominium”-style news-box plan is being promoted by the Old Colorado City Security & Maintenance District board, which creates and maintains public
amenities in Old Town. Seeking to enhance the historic style of Old Colorado City, the district board has long sought an alternative to the present scenario, in which
individual publications have bunched together their own boxes in different sidewalk locations, each with its own style, color and (often) lack of maintenance.
The new unit still needs to be built, but a price was previously arranged with local metal sculptor Bear McLaughlin. “Now it's just a matter of coordinating with the
artist and setting a time frame,” said board chair Judy Kasten, “I would love to see it happen this fall.”
For budgetary reasons, she said the board is currently looking at just one ore cart/box location for now: a sidewalk space on the southwest side of Colorado Avenue
and 26th Street, where numerous racks reside. “It's the most deserving spot because of the clutter,” she said.
As approved, the box would have doors/spaces on both sides. The exact number of spaces is not yet known, just that “we have to accommodate all the vendors
there are now [in the city],” Kasten said the city has told her. “A meeting with vendors will happen and we can get a feel for that.”
Each vendor using the box would pay $40 a year to cover maintenance costs.
The other city stipulation is that the district make room for free as well as non-free papers. This would require the installation and maintenance of secure doors and
coin-collection units. The board had proposed the rack for free papers only.
The top of the rack would be laid with gold ore, while the unit itself would sit atop circular metal pieces made to look like ore cart wheels. Such a unit would match
ongoing district efforts (involving so far the location and installation of four ore carts from the Cripple Creek-Victor mines).
The board had been concerned that the city might object to a creative design - the downtown versions are basically just big boxes - and a slight difference from the
downtown measurements, but neither of these proved to be an issue.
The Maintenance District uses revenues from a dedicated property tax on Old Colorado City property owners to fund public improvements there.